1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of data processing systems, and in particular to data processing systems designed to be utilized with multiple sets of keys and characters. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to data processing systems which permit the rapid and efficient searching of keys and characters from different national languages.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has long been recognized that the accommodation of new and different national user requirements in data processing systems is quite important. So-called National Language Support (NLS) has been a goal of many computer manufacturers for a number of years. However, NLS is far more than the mere conversion of a system to a second language. In order to truly support a national language, it is necessary to provide a universal product which may be adapted to any particular market. A true National Language Support product must operate with immunity from any problems which arise due to the use of different sets of characters or words. Such a system must include facilities to render the interacting characters or words different for each language. A National Language Support data processing system must permit the manufacturer to readily install each set of characters and to efficiently change from one set of characters to another set of characters. These multiple character sets must be serviceable and facilities must be provided to test and assure the various design implementations which result.
There exists a growing market requirement for data processing systems which include National Language Support due to the increased number of people operating computer systems who do not speak English or speak only limited English. Additionally, computer customers generally desire to become self-sufficient in installing and utilizing computer products and as a result, it is necessary to implement the data processing system and its support information in a manner which will permit this.
One problem which exists in previous implementations of National Language Support (NLS) data processing systems is the difficulty in implementing a search of alphabetic strings in such systems. For example, when searching for a particular alphabetic character string, it is necessary, in an ideal situation, to determine whether or not variations in diacritical marks or case will be acceptable to the searcher. In previously known language support data processing systems it has not been possible to provide such a distinction. That is, a search for a particular alphabetic character string which did not specify diacritical marks could fail to find a match which includes all desired criteria with diacritical marks.
Therefore, it should be apparent that a need exists for a National Language Support (NLS) data processing system in which it is possible to perform a search for matching alphanumeric character strings which may selectively include or ignore diacritic characters or other special characters.